Re part 3 - Reinvention
by BlackFrostWarrior
Summary: The poison in Robin's system triggers a nightmarish transformation. The team may have to kill him in order to protect the innocent. Rated T for some extremely dead people and general ickiness.
1. Prologue

**A/N: The author recommends that the reader read parts 1 and 2 of the story, rather than leaping into the middle. Just a thought.**

**Also, the author would like to lay the blame for this part of the story on lack of sleep and excessive caffeine. But they are aware that their imagination had a part to play too.**

* * *

_October 5__th__, 11:55 PM_

Dark was the night when our tale was begun, all day the lightning had flashed until it blinded the sun. Down poured the black rain, thunder roiled the earth, shaking rivers from their beds and trees to their very roots. Deep in the forest, beyond all prying eyes, a wolf pack threw back their heads and called to the moon as though they might yet see it this night, in spite of the storm. But of the moon there was no sign, as if it knew that there was something down there which it should not shine its pale ethereal light upon. The world seemed to crack, as if something had broken it open, or perhaps torn its way from the deep flaming interior of the universe, ripping a hole between this world and the next and passing through as if there were no boundary there.

For on this night, a creature came to the forest, shifting the balance of power in the world. There were predators, and there was prey. The hunters and the hunted. The carnivores and the herbivores. And there were also those in between, who ate of both meat and plants. There were eaters of carrion, who would feast upon the highest of the killers should they fall, and there were hunters who would track any who were weaker than themselves, regardless of their culinary preferences.

But on this night, in this place, there was born a creature who was something else. Something... other. The wolf's cry to the moon was not one of longing, but fear of the night. The darkness, which was once their home, now contained a threat to their very existence. Though there were many beasts whom a wolf might hesitate to tackle, there was none in the world he truly feared. Yet now there was, and terrified they were, for the scent which came to their noses through the wind and the rain was not one they recognized, but still they knew it was deadly.

A killer of killers.

The moaning of the trees as whistling wind whipped through their branches, the soft whispers of the grass as the same bluster flattened it, all of nature recoiled from the thing in its midst. The terrible, unnatural thing which had entered into its domain.

A monster from a place much more distant than Hell.

The cries of the wolves, the only sound competing with the wind, rose in urgency as their fear mounted into panic, their frantic eyes searching the night furtively for what they knew not. Licking their lips with anxious tongue, looking for courage from their leader, but there they found none.

For even the great gray wolf who had led the pack for so many seasons, knew nothing of what he heard foretold on the wind. Despite his vast experience and tremendous wisdom, he could think of but one answer to the presence he felt in the night. And that was to run.

As if the thought were sent through the pack like a shock of electric current, they rose as one and fled through the night. A hunt is well-ordered, every wolf in his place, doing a set task. They run, but with caution, ever mindful of their surroundings, always watching their footing and checking with their pack mates to make sure they're where they belong. But there was no sense of order or pattern as the wolves fled. Running flat out, they stumbled over roots and one another, desperate to be the first to escape the menace which they could feel stalking them in the night.

This pack had never laid eyes on man, knew nothing of his helicopter or his gun. They knew of no thing in the world which they had reason to flee from. Even though a furious grizzly was given a wide berth, there was a dignity and form to a wolf's retreat from him. Though they would run from boar or the mighty wolverine, it was only so far as would take them out of harm's way, and then they would depart in their own good time.

But they knew, even as they were faced by the unknown, that whatever it was could get them. No matter how hard or how far they ran, they were still practically within its grasp.

All around them, the forest had come alive with the sounds of other animals fleeing in terror, lunging and scrambling over each other to get away, forgetting their status as predator and prey in the all-consuming fear, much greater even than the fear of fire, which animals are known to fear above all else.

* * *

_Watchtower_

_Roughly Nineteen Hours Earlier..._

The darkness was alive with sounds, words echoing as though spoken into a tin can, voices familiar but nameless, forms and shadows who had no faces or identity. There was the rasping of quick breaths, the mark of those participating in physical exercise. Slow, deep rhythms of mental activity, slow heartbeats accompanying deep contemplation.

The world was alive with thudding, thundering heartbeats. The sound of blood pumping through the body, arteries and veins, the subtle pulse of the brain at work. Proof positive of life in the dark. Alive, alive... and so very... annoying.

Distantly, there came other sounds. Claws scraping on metal flooring, creaking muscles and snapping joints, the low growls of angry creatures locked away behind steel bars.

Robin opened his eyes slowly and found himself looking into the face of Bumblebee. She was working with the Atom, searching for a cure. Not just for the monsters a few levels below, but for Robin as well. Though on the outside he looked no different, Robin could feel the change within him.

At first it had frightened him, but now it was merely tiresome. There was no cure, because this was not a disease. He wasn't sure what it was, but it had heightened his senses, strength, speed, improved his agility a hundred fold. But most importantly, it was altering the very way he thought. The fear that used to be such a part of who he was had fallen away so far that he barely remembered it.

He knew that the way he had begun to think was wrong, but the trouble was that he'd stopped caring. He was not losing his identity, but what made him who he was. The reasons he'd chosen to become Robin in the first place suddenly seemed so unimportant. His humanity, for lack of a better term, was slowly slipping away, to reveal something... other.

The savage nature he had seen in himself used to scare him, but now it only thrilled him. He was no longer certain that he wanted a cure at all.

The change went deeper still. The faces and names he had once recognized were strange to him. He couldn't seem to recall why he trusted these people, or why he should respect them, any of them. It would all be so much easier if they just went away.

They were too noisy, and always intruding. They came and talked to him, did tests on him, asked questions of him. Always at him, always wanting something. Why wouldn't they just go away?. Deep inside, he could feel the change. It was painful now, yes. But soon, very soon, he would have the power to make them all be silent. To make them all just disappear.

"Robin," the name he knew as his own ripped him from thought and he looked up sharply to see Nightwing leaning casually against the door-frame "I need a word with you,"

Bumblebee, recognizing that she was suddenly the intruder here, quickly made her exit. Robin and Nightwing both watched her go, then looked back at each other.

"I know," Nightwing said "I can feel it too,"

"You don't know. You can't," Robin's voice was low, a guttural tone that was barely human "stop talking about things you don't understand,"

Nightwing had become a tormentor to him, constantly present, always reminding him of what he once was. Not only had Nightwing once been Robin, but he too had been "infected". But, according to Atom, he was now cured. And yet... there had formed between them some kind of link that suggested all was not exactly as it seemed to be.

"I do know," Nightwing persisted "and I also know how this will end,"

"Do you?. So why not kill me now, get it over with?,"

"You don't have to let this happen, Robin," Nightwing said "I didn't. You don't have to let yourself become a monster,"

"What would you know?. You're Nightwing, you can do anything,"

"That's not true and you know it,"

"Oh right, still pining for that dead friend of yours?,"

"Afraid for my brother is more like it," Nightwing corrected him sharply "I can't bring back the dead, but you're not dead. Not yet,"

"I can take care of myself," Robin snarled.

"Really?. So how is it that why you were caught?. Why are we in this situation if you can take care of yourself?. You tell me that!," Nightwing's voice had gained a quality not unlike Robin's, a low rattling challenge, daring him to fight.

"Shut up!," Robin sprang to his feet, fists clenched at his sides.

Nightwing simply stared at him, his face expressionless, masked eyes unreadable. But his heart rate had jumped, he was taking steadying breaths. He was preparing for a fight. The fight was inevitable.

But Robin sat back down on the edge of the bed and let the tension drain out of him.

Not here, not now. Not yet. Soon though. Very soon.

Closing his eyes, he was welcomed not by darkness, but by a pair of red eyes, whose sinister glow contained a world of pleasure and pain which he had not known existed. He forgot about Nightwing, forgot the world around. The sound was pierced by silence, release into oblivion and relief.

Nightwing saw the change come over Robin's face, and took a step backwards.

He had hoped for a little more time, and neither the Justice League nor the team fully realized what was going to happen. But Nightwing knew, as he had known from the first cut.

The beast had awakened, and the nightmare had begun.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Turning

Batman and Superman were startled out of their discussion about the current issue with the Light by Nightwing sailing through the closed door, which splintered in a hundred directions while he slid across the floor and bounced off the far wall.

He was on his feet in an instant, though he staggered slightly. Batman had taught him well. Get up right away, showing a willingness to fight may make your opponent hesitate long enough for you to catch your breath.

The two men looked from Nightwing to the hole in the door, which Robin slowly and deliberately stepped through, trailing his staff behind him. There was a splash of blood on it which matched the cut above Nightwing's right eye.

Superman moved to intercept Robin, but Nightwing blocked his path, casting a significant look at Robin's left hand. A dull glow from his glove betrayed the hidden Kryptonite he held. Superman backed away. He could attack Robin from a distance, but not without hurting him. Nightwing stood back, letting Batman take over.

"What are you doing, Tim?," Batman asked.

"He knows," Robin nodded towards Nightwing "ask him!. He knows everything,"

Batman moved towards Robin, but was slowed by a handful of smoke pellets. When the smoke cleared, Robin was already gone. Batman went to the door and looked up and down the hall. Nightwing went to the nearest computer terminal, which registered Robin's departure from the Watchtower via boom tube.

"He said you know what he's up to," Batman turned to Nightwing abruptly "do you?,"

Nightwing looked past him, his face a picture of sad resignation.

"He's going home,"

"To Gotham?. Why?," a moment later, realization dawned "a programmed destination,"

"It calls to him," Nightwing said quietly "just as it calls me,"

"You?. But Atom said that poison was completely flushed from your system," Superman protested.

"Not completely," Nightwing told him "just enough to let me fight it,"

"Where is he going?,"

"I don't know the name of the place," Nightwing shook his head "I don't know where it is at all. Just a direction. But I can find it. Let me put a team together, I can bring him back,"

"No, he's my responsibility," Batman disagreed.

"With respect," Nightwing cut him off "he's a member of _my_ team. This happened on my watch,"

Batman opened his mouth to protest further, but remembered bitterly the last argument he'd won with Nightwing. Nightwing had wanted to pull the team out of the Arrow County Correctional Facility, but Batman had overruled him. He'd had no right to do so, and it had nearly cost the team their lives.

"Alright," Batman said.

Nightwing nodded curtly to the two men, then hurried off to make a few calls. Already he was running down the list of those who could help in his mind. Miss Martian might yet be able to reach Robin. In spite of the Kryptonite, Superboy was their best shot at overpowering Robin. Robin's strength and speed was much greater now than it had been before, Nightwing stood no chance against him. Impulse- ...Kid Flash, could keep up with him. He resisted the temptation to add Aqualad and Tigress to the list, knowing that they would surely fight hard, but could do little against Robin in his altered state.

* * *

"You and your stupid secrets!," Superboy snapped.

Miss Martian was at the helm, Kid Flash positioned ahead of her, and both of them flinched, being caught between Superboy and Nightwing, who seemed to have utterly forgotten their presence.

"This is exactly why I left," Nightwing shot back "you needed someone you could trust, and that sure as hell wasn't me. What do you want?. You want me to say I'm sorry?. Well I can't, because I'm not. I wish to God I was!,"

"Why didn't you tell us this time?. What did you think you were protecting us from?!,"

"If you'd known, what would you have done?,"

"Locked you up so you couldn't hurt anyone!. That's what!,"

"Exactly why I didn't say anything," Nightwing told him "Robin needed help, and still does. I couldn't very well help him locked in a cage like some monster. I've got it under control, Conner,"

"So you say, but how am I supposed to believe that?," Superboy asked "after all the deception, all the lies, how can any of us believe a word you say?,"

"I can't answer that," Nightwing replied softly "all I can ask is that you trust me a little longer,"

Superboy frowned deeply, then sighed.

"So, anything else you want to tell us?,"

"He's carrying Kryptonite, so it would be wise for you to maintain your distance until one of us can get it away from him. You're our heavy-hitter, and best chance at stopping him,"

"What happens if we can't bring him in?,"

"Conner!," Miss Martian spoke for the first time, but Nightwing cut her off.

"We take him down, at any cost. We cannot let the weapon he's become fall into the hands of someone like Lex Luthor or the rest of the Light,"

"Wait, you mean kill him?," Kid Flash asked "you can't mean that, he's-,"

"I know exactly what he is," Nightwing said sharply "and that's dangerous. He hasn't lost any of his training or experience, but he's gained strength and speed rivaling Superman. And he's not through changing yet. When he's finished, he'll be perfectly designed for killing,"

"What are you saying?," Miss Martian asked, though she suspected she already knew.

"I'm saying that we have to take him down now, while we still can,"

* * *

_06:30 AM_

Nightwing had been disturbingly silent the last two hours. He had said nothing, nor had he looked at any member of the team, gazing past them in some kind of trance-like state. The only sign that he still remembered where he was and what he was doing was the occasional psychic message he sent to give Miss Martian course corrections.

The others weren't sure if he was hunting Robin, or for where Robin was going. It was hard for them to believe Robin was so far ahead that they hadn't managed to overtake him by now. On the other hand, wouldn't the wiser thing to do be to overtake Robin, stop him before he arrived at his destination?.

Nightwing's head suddenly came up, as if something had flown in his face and startled him.

"Hold it," he spoke aloud, his voice low.

"What is it?," Kid Flash asked uneasily after a moment.

"Let me out here," Nightwing said quietly.

"If you're going, so am I," Superboy asserted.

Nightwing turned as if to make an argument against this, but instead merely inclined his head in assent. Reluctantly, Miss Martian opened the ship.

"Stay here," Nightwing ordered "if we need you, we'll call,"

Kid Flash and Miss Martian watched them drop from sight, disappearing into the depths of a city whose name they only vaguely recalled, not far from Gotham.

"Yeah right," Kid Flash commented "if Robin's as dangerous as described, they'll never get a word in before he takes them down,"

"Have a little faith, Bart," Miss Martian said dryly "you of all people should know what Nightwing is capable of,"

"Yeah, that's what worries me," Kid Flash replied "how do we know the thing controlling Robin isn't controlling Nightwing too?,"

Miss Martian opened her mouth to reply, but then didn't. There was no guarantee, and Nightwing had so recently deceived them all, without the assistance of any mind-altering drugs. If they were wrong, if Nightwing had turned like Robin, then Superboy was already dead.

* * *

Robin cocked his head and cast an upward glance at the still darkened sky. Thoughtful for a moment, he considered the possibility that he could rid himself of his pursuers here and now, permanently. The damp air, carrying with it the threat of rain, brought also the smell of his brother, now a stranger to him. Nightwing, the black bird himself. No dark knight for sure, but dangerous nonetheless. And with him was another, one who was physically more than a match for Robin still.

Backing into the darkest recesses of the alley, he looked for a route of escape. Pulsing in his blood, calling like an echoed command, was the desire for violence, a lust for destruction which might only be quenched by the death of those living. The world would be a much better place if it were the land of the dead. The dead made no noise, had no words to speak or actions to perform. Silence.

Even now, the sound of vehicles, of machinery, of speech, of movement, of heartbeats reverberated in his head. He wanted that to stop. Noise, noise, all of it be damned. He looked up from his tormented musing, hearing in his mind the distant call. There would be relief if he got there. Relief, blessed silence perhaps. He had all but forgotten leaving the Watchtower, hardly even remembered that there was such a thing.

Later he might but, though his memory was intact, his mind had prioritized. The memories were all there, but he had no reason to access them. He had gone into the state of the hunted, a mode he resisted strongly. He wanted to be the hunter. And soon, very soon, he would be.

He caught sight of Nightwing as the team leader leaped down off a roof to land on a set of stairs designed to be a fire escape, but now rusted and worn and unstable. Yet Nightwing landed on the railing without the aged metal so much as registering a complaint, landing as lightly and precisely as his training as an acrobat and later a sidekick to The Bat demanded.

Nightwing looked down sharply, eyes as clear as a hawk's, alert for any sign of movement below. Nightwing was poised to strike, prepared to dive down and come in for a hard landing on anyone whom he saw below him. Like a raptor in search of prey.

On the roof, Superboy waited for a signal from Nightwing, watching the night world above for signs of disturbance and danger which Nightwing might be unaware of, having cast himself into the pit of the alley, where the walls blocked his vision and muffled sounds. That was why Robin was here, and not above. It was quieter here, here he could breathe.

Nightwing shifted his weight soundlessly, his body beginning to list towards where Robin was crouching in the dark, heart beating fast in anticipation of sudden fight or flight. Nightwing could not possibly sense him with his feeble human senses, yet the masked vigilante seemed to have an uncanny awareness of Robin's location.

And then it hit him, both literally and figuratively. Nightwing had gained the sixth, or perhaps seventh (Robin had lost count) sense that told one creature where the other was. Robin's eyes widened as the steel gaze of Nightwing locked on him and the black bird swept down to the ground with the abruptness and force of a diving falcon.

Robin barely moved back in time. He lashed out blindly and headed deeper into the alley. In the darkness, both were blind. Yet Nightwing didn't appear to require his vision when he caught Robin's neck and yanked him backwards. Robin twisted, dropping to one knee as the iron grip tightened. Shifting his weight, he threw Nightwing over his shoulder, holding the other's arm so that he could not right himself mid-tumble.

Nightwing hit the ground with a satisfying thud, the first sound he had made since the encounter began. Robin took the brief second to look up to Superboy, who was still maintaining his distance, though he was all too obviously aware of the situation. Too aware to get in range of the deadly rock Robin was harboring in his tool belt.

Realizing that Superboy knew about it meant Nightwing had not forgotten. Robin looked back at Nightwing, but his adversary was already gone. Robin didn't have to check his pocket to know that he'd been pick pocketed. He should have known better. He'd handled Nightwing as he might a simple criminal, without regard for the intelligence and knowledge of his foe. He was superior to his enemy, of that he was certain. But if he was careless, if he forgot who he was dealing with, he would surely lose.

A crash from behind told Robin all he needed to know. Before he could whirl to face his new opponent, he was grabbed around the chest from behind with crushing force. Then suddenly the grip loosened, and Robin turned and kicked, pushing off from his enemy and turning in the air to land facing Superboy, though he realized it was a mistake not to face Nightwing.

Superboy looked stunned, and confused for a moment, until he noticed a sickly glowing lump under the right sleeve of Robin's costume. Robin was no fool. He'd had but one piece to work with, but he knew how to break it apart without ruining its quality. True he'd forgotten himself and allowed Nightwing to pick his pocket, but he'd been prepared. The best way to hide your mistakes is to have plenty of backup plans.

Robin distantly wondered if Nightwing had signaled Superboy to move in, or if the hulking half-Kryptonian had simply acted on his own.

Though he heard no sound, Robin shifted and caught Nightwing on the attack, throwing his first adversary at his second. Dropping a small chip of Kryptonite and a handful of smoke pellets, Robin swiftly and silently made good his escape.

* * *

Nightwing, having been catapulted into Superboy only to bounce off and crash down on the pavement, got up slowly, dusting himself off irritably as he did so. He couldn't form the words he wanted to express his frustration and so merely growled.

He stumbled through the choking smoke and picked up the piece of meteor rock and placed it in the lead-lined pocket of his utility belt with the other one.

"Well I hope you're happy," Superboy coughed "I suppose you didn't see that one coming?,"

Nightwing blinked at him in the near-darkness and stood numbly for a moment. Then he shook his head as if to clear it.

"We'd better get back to the bio-ship. He's long gone by now,"

"Oh yeah?. And whose fault is that?,"

Nightwing made no reply. He had walked right into a trap, led Superboy in as well. Even knowing Robin's skill and training, he had made a foolish move and not anticipated the possible consequences. Was it because he wasn't being objective with Robin?. That seemed unlikely. Far more likely was that the pull he was even now allowing himself to respond to was clouding his thinking.

Robin's too, fortunately. So easily could Robin have ended his life not once, but twice. And all because Nightwing had gone on the offensive as though Robin were a mere villain.

"You're in charge next time," Nightwing said "I can't be trusted to make the right decisions in combat,"


	3. Chapter 2 - No Choice

_07:07 AM_

Nightwing seemed more subdued than before. But more than that, something had obviously happened between him and Superboy down there, something they had failed to resolve. Miss Martian and Kid Flash could both feel it, like tension in the air, but somehow different. Nightwing avoided looking at any of them, and Superboy appeared to have withdrawn into himself.

Though sunrise had come, it was masked by a heavy curtain of gray storm clouds. The team had made barely any progress. Nightwing had given no directions, leaving Miss Martian to sweep the city below in a grid pattern, on the off chance that she might by some miracle spot Robin. She wanted to ask Nightwing where he expected them to go from here, but some instinct bade her keep silent.

Kid Flash, as impulsive as he was, somehow sensed that now was the time to be quiet. That no questions would be answered now, he would have to wait, suffering his curiosity and impatience without open comment.

At long last, it was Superboy who looked up, staring out the view screen for several moments before turning abruptly to Nightwing. His expression frightened Miss Martian, and for a second she actually thought he might attempt to attack Nightwing. But instead, he merely sat calmly and made a simple, but very clear demand of their leader.

"Let's beat him to wherever he's going. The only way we'll catch him is if we're properly prepared," the words were spoken crisply, with an authority that shocked both Miss Martian and Kid Flash.

They gaped openly at Superboy. He was given to making brazen demands, and time had not tempered his aggression, though experience had made him somewhat wiser. But it had been a long time since he had taken that tone with Nightwing. Not so long as they both must have thought, for he had spoken that way to Nightwing privately on more than one occasion

Turning to Nightwing, they received another shock when he dipped his head mildly and delivered a mental instruction to Miss Martian, giving her speed and direction, and the indication that there would be more information to follow. Miss Martian uneasily complied. Somehow, in the space of half an hour, the balance of power within the team had shifted drastically, as it had not done in over five years.

"Tell me what you know," Superboy again addressed Nightwing "is this as far as it goes, or can we expect more changes to come?,"

"You can expect it to get a lot worse," Nightwing replied.

"Worse?. How could it possibly get worse?. I could barely hold him, even before the Kryptonite hit me," Superboy said.

"Pretty soon, you won't be able to hold onto him at all,"

Nightwing opened the holographic display on his computer and began to compose something. He worked for several minutes in silence, pausing now and then to tell Miss Martian to alter her course. When he was finished, he enlarged the image he had drawn.

"I don't know how accurate this is," he admitted "but it's what I've seen in my head,"

"That doesn't look good," Kid Flash commented after a moment of awed, or horrified, silence.

"Is that what it looks like?," Superboy asked.

"The past always returns," Nightwing said.

"Very zen," Kid Flash told him "but usually they don't mean it returns... like this,"

"But... why turn him into that?. What possible reason could their be for it?," Miss Martian asked.

"Resurrect one of the most intelligent, most powerful creatures in Earth history?. Why not?,"

"But not exactly as it was," Superboy observed.

"No. Even this animal was no match for a Kryptonian, even if it had Robin's knowledge and experience," Nightwing said "people always feel a certain need to improve on what already exists and fix what was never broken,"

"And revive things which should stay dead," Kid Flash muttered.

"Yeah, that too," Nightwing agreed.

"So you think this is what he's becoming?," Superboy asked.

"Or his perception of it right now," Nightwing said.

A black thought had come to Nightwing. It was quite possible that what he had depicted was far less than what would actually be. For now his mind was aflame with alternate images, shadows and shapes, chaotic at best, but all were bringers of violence. Fang of the wolf, claw of the cat, skin of the snake, disease of the rat and wings of the bat. They were beginning to mingle with the image he had first drawn, yet formed no coherent shape. But one thing was certain, when he was finished changing, Robin would not longer be recognizable as human.

The only thing he knew for sure was how the final change would take place. It wouldn't be a gradual shift, as Robin's behavior had been. The beast he had become would shed its skin like a reptile, becoming outwardly as monstrous as he had already become inside.

"What do you think of our chances at taking him alive?," Superboy asked.

"At the moment, extremely low," Nightwing answered honestly "if we're to do anything other than kill him, something will have to change drastically,"

He half closed his eyes at saying this, a cold dread seeping through his veins that he was unaccustomed to feeling. It was a bitter pill for him to swallow, far bitterer than that of his inability to remain objective and on top of the situation.

"Is there no way we can trap him?," Miss Martian asked.

Nightwing and Superboy exchanged a significant look. Though they had related their first adventure together before, only those who had been present truly understood. In the midst of danger, Nightwing, then Robin, had not been afraid he would be unable to escape, but that he would not be able to do it in the time Batman would want him to.

"This is Robin we're talking about," Superboy answered for Nightwing "if he doesn't want to be caught, he won't be caught. Either he lets us catch him, or we kill him. Those are the options,"

Nightwing didn't quite nod, but close enough for the other two to realize he agreed with that assessment. Those trained by Batman were ninjas, master illusionists and skilled escape artists, plus the modern tech twist of being expert hackers. There was nothing they could not get into, no place they could not escape from, or at least close enough to accomplish a set goal. And this was a former Batman sidekick on something much stronger than steroids.

* * *

By nine o'clock, the team had left the stormy cities near Gotham far behind. They might have traveled faster had they actually known their destination, but instead they adopted a slow, lurching pace as Nightwing gave directions at apparent random, seeming less sure of himself each time.

He sat in his seat quietly, hunched over like an old man, a distant and foreboding look clouding his young features. His demeanor suggested more than a lack of confidence, but a certain inability to even deal with the reality that faced him. It was more than unsettling to see him this way. Nightwing, who had from day one faced all challenges with a mix of supreme, almost arrogant, confidence and eagerness that suggested a taste for danger and thrill for the unexpected, had never been one to shrink from the world before him.

Even if he believed the world he'd once known was gone forever, that all whom he cared about were dead, Nightwing had still shown defiance in the face of defeat. His skill meant he was likely to survive for some time to come, but the warrior blood that ran in his veins would not permit him to leave the life behind. There was no doubt in anyone's mind but that someday this game would kill him. Perhaps not now, or even ten years from now, but someday.

And yet he was now withdrawn, as if this one thing were simply too much for him. The death of the previous Robin had not affected him so, nor even the death of his best friend, the original Kid Flash. He had reacted adversely, but there was always the promise that he would recover.

Below the ship stretched miles of sand dunes, and a harsh wind was whipping them into a frenzy of dusty tornadoes. Nightwing indicated that they were close, but looking out the windows showed only more sand. Shouldn't there be some kind of structure somewhere in this wasteland?. Why send Robin all the way out here?.

As they slid over a large dune, a small bunker at last came into view and they let out a collective breath. A building made sense. Although none of them felt particularly eager to fight in this sandstorm. They would be rendered practically blind, even with goggles on. This was exactly the sort of turf Nightwing and Robin thrived on. Uneven footing, blinded by sand and deafened by wind. They would have the advantage. They looked to Nightwing, who stared vacantly out at the roaring sand. It seemed unlikely that he would be of any use in the coming battle.

"Let's get down there and do some investigating," Superboy said. "Miss Martian, stay with the ship and watch our backs. Radios probably won't work in this mess, so we'll use the telepathic mind link. Kid Flash, Nightwing, come with me,"

At his words, Nightwing roused himself. He blinked and looked around as if noticing the ship and his friends for the first time. Shaking himself, Nightwing arose and followed Superboy out of the ship.

Down on the ground, the weather was worse than it had looked from above. Stinging sand whipped around Superboy's face, and the wind blew. Though he was strong enough to stand against it, the wind also shifted the sand underfoot, and he nearly fell as the universe suddenly seemed to rearrange itself. In spite of his superior vision, he could barely make out the form of Kid Flash huddling near him, half flattened by the fierce storm.

Kid Flash was fast, not strong, and the wind buffeted against his small frame unmercifully. His one advantage was his goggles, which kept the sand out of his eyes, but did little to clear his vision. He tried leaning into the wind, but in the end the only thing that kept him upright and moving forward was keeping the powerful Superboy between himself and the blasting hurricane level gale.

Superboy could not even see Nightwing, and called out mentally to check his position. It turned out that Nightwing was just to his right, about five feet away. Nightwing drifted over at his call until he was less than a foot away. Superboy could just barely make him out.

When he asked Miss Martian, it became uncomfortably apparent that she could not see them at all beneath the whirling sandstorm. Superboy thought to bring her down with them, because she was clearly of no use as a look out, but he decided it might be best to keep their flanks covered in any case.

Guided by Nightwing's compass, they located the door of the bunker and moved gratefully into the meager shelter provided by its recessed door. Kid Flash was coughing and Superboy wondered if he would really be able to make it back to where they'd left the ship, especially considering the probable fight they would be having beforehand. They hadn't dared put the ship any closer, even cloaked it could be discovered.

At Superboy's signal, Nightwing crouched down beside the panel next to the door and set to work on it. With skilled fingers, he quickly disabled the locking mechanism and the door slide open with a heavy groan that made them all cringe.

Peering inside, they saw nothing but a darkened hallway. There was no light in the building and the air that blew out was warm and smelled musty, as if it had been abandoned for years.

Nightwing, sounding heavy hearted, gave voice to the realization that had struck him half an hour ago, but that he had not wanted to believe.

"We're too late, he's already gone,"

* * *

When Nightwing said that Robin was gone, there was more than one meaning to his words. It was obvious that the place was dark and empty of life. Less obvious was a dark lump leaning against one wall of the hallway. Upon closer inspection, Superboy and Kid Flash came to the same horrifying realization that Nightwing had when he first laid eyes on it.

It was Robin's suit, as well as a disgustingly damp pile of skin and hair. Now, a few feet into the tunnel-like hall, Superboy's eyes were adjusting to the darkness. Up ahead there was another mass on the floor, this one larger than the first. Uneasily, he crossed over to it.

It was a human body, or at least what was left of it. Flesh ripped to literal shredded pieces, bones crushed by some tremendously powerful blow, the mangled corpse lay in a puddle of its own bodily fluid, eyes and gaping mouth glazed and twisted first with utter terror, and then death inside the utterly smashed skull and heavily lacerated skin, cut down to the shattered bone.

Superboy was no stranger to violence, or even to death, but even in his world there were generally rules. A torn throat, a bullet to the head, death being the end. Something had killed this person, then continued pounding and tearing at the body until there was nothing left but a shapeless lump on the floor sitting in a pool of blood.

He turned away abruptly and caught Kid Flash by the shoulder before the younger boy could go see what had turned his stomach so. Nightwing did not approach the body, yet seemed fully aware of what it was, and how it had come to be killed.

"Those were claw marks, teeth marks," Superboy murmured aloud, barely believing it "no weapon killed him. Something, something living did that. Crushed the life out of him with its bare hands,"

Nightwing did not look surprised, but nodded silently with a sort of saddened resignation.

"Everyone in the building is dead," Nightwing told him "all of them,"

"I thought you said someone was controlling him?," Superboy snapped, feeling helpless, which made him angry "so why is that man dead?,"

"There is no prison which can hold him now," came the quiet reply "not even one of the mind,"

"So where will he go?," Superboy asked, still finding it hard to believe that Robin had beat them here, and that he had turned into some kind of beast, and that he'd actually killed someone.

"Where do you think?," Nightwing asked, his tone harsh and his expression cold "a predator seeks a hunting ground. Robin, or what's left of him, already has one,"

"He's going to Gotham," Kid Flash breathed in disbelief.

"We were practically there!," Superboy shouted, furious at no one in particular because there was no one he could truly blame, not even Nightwing or himself "we could have been there, waiting for him. We'll never find him in Gotham, at least not before the media gets wind of it. And that won't happen until he kills someone else,"

"Someone innocent," Kid Flash added nervously.

"We have no choice," Superboy said fiercely, though inside he was more wounded than angry "we will find him, and then we will kill him,"


	4. Chapter 3 - Creature

_09:30 AM_

_Metropolis_

Lex Luthor had received a message from his desert team that the creature had activated and was due to arrive any hour. He had immediately flown out, eager to meet his new, incredibly powerful and completely loyal monster. If it was successful, so too could be the next step in his plan. For the creature was immortal, and its physical shape was one of its own making. Because the boy was becoming feral inside, so too did he become so on the outside.

But Luthor had not anticipated the uncontrollable savagery of the beast. It had come meekly at first, but upon seeing him, a flash of recognition passed through it, and all hell broke loose. At the time, it had still been in the form of Robin. Luthor would never know exactly how it came to be that he infected Nightwing and it was Robin who came to him, nor did he at the moment care.

It was only the swift efficiency of his security people which had gotten him out quickly and slowed the beast down as it sought him out specially. It didn't bother him so much that eleven people were dead, or even how they came to have died. What bothered him was that he had somehow failed so miserably. The monster he had created was every bit as feral as the others, only this one not only retained its intelligence, but had also gained a passionate loathing for all that lived and breathed.

He was uncertain if this was caused by the creature's own hatred of him, or perhaps something to do with the special training Robin had received that allowed him to somehow resist, or maybe something else. He would not admit it, even to himself, that perhaps he was to blame for the failure of this experiment. Still, he would need to refine it further before attempting such a thing again.

* * *

_10:30 AM_

_Gotham_

It had taken just under an hour to make what had previously been a two hour flight. Returning through the sandstorm seemed to have taken most of the pep out of Kid Flash, and Nightwing seemed on the verge of being catatonic. Superboy decided it was time to call for more help.

While on the way to Gotham, he had called the Watchtower. Kaldur and Static had been the team members present and not otherwise occupied. Superboy was uneasy about anyone he did not know well, and so chose to request the aid of Kaldur. He was grateful and deeply relieved to turn the decision making over to someone else.

When he had finished bringing Kaldur up to date, all were startled to realize that Nightwing had disappeared. They looked for him only briefly, then began to search the city for signs of what had once been Robin, including Kid Flash who insisted on helping in spite of the fact that he was still coughing sand. Kaldur came to the same sad conclusion as Superboy.

They had no way of containing or reasoning with Robin, and he had already proven himself a killer. He had also proven to be a swift traveler, he was a threat not only to the city, but to the world. They barely paused to question why he had not gone on a rampage while on the way here. Nor did they ask why the first dead bodies weren't being discovered and reported.

If they had, perhaps they would have been able to find Robin sooner. And maybe they would have known also just where it was Nightwing had gone.

* * *

_11:11 AM_

_The Batcave_

The quiet scraping of powerful claws against stone floor disturbed the slumbering flock of bats that made the cave their home. The echo of the claws made them flutter uneasily, even as they squeaked their annoyance at being disturbed in the middle of their sleep cycle.

The beast knew the cave was empty and made no attempt to conceal its presence. The Bat would return, of course, and would have to be dealt with, but all in due time. The beast knew the habits of The Bat, knew he would have only recently left the Watchtower. Now he would be sleeping, in preparation for a party he would have to attend as Bruce Wayne. Only after nightfall would The Bat come to his cave in search of the prey he favored: criminals.

The beast had every intention of being gone before then. It would be little bother to kill The Bat in his own cave, but his disappearance would bring others in force. Those others the beast was not yet confident enough to face. He knew his own strength and speed and cunning, but he had not yet fully mastered his form and new thought patterns. He must be at his peak before taking on challengers so formidable as the Justice League.

There was also the other to consider. The other would be coming for him, hard and fast. This was why he did not immediately lie down and go to sleep. Though he wanted to, the beast knew the danger inherent in lowering his guard. The other must be dispatched.

A sound from above made the beast snap his head up, gazing at the ceiling with a mixture of confusion and rage. It took several seconds for it to click in his almost reptilian brain that there was a third whom he had failed to take into consideration. Not the she-bat, for she was far away, across the world. But the keeper of the house.

A low growl rose in the creature's throat as he fully realized that he was not alone. Perhaps the one above was not so dangerous as the other, but still must be dealt with swiftly and decisively. A transparent eyelid flashed across the glimmering amber-colored eyes. Steel-trap jaws parted to show jagged fangs, set in neat scissor formation in the black gums.

But then the one above headed for the door. The beast could have killed him before he made his way off the property, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. He wouldn't be back until evening, the beast realized as it thought over his usual habits. It was the day he usually did his shopping, some of which was necessarily complicated and extended.

With a soft sigh, the beast turned itself around a few times, debating which direction was the best to face. Deciding the tunnel entrance would be the easiest to enter silently, he turned his back on the door to the house and lay down, keeping his feet underneath him in case he should need to rise suddenly.

The other would come. But not now, he sensed, not yet. The other was distracted, uneasy. The first clash would not be before nightfall.

* * *

_12:35 PM_

_The streets of Gotham_

Gotham was a big city and, ordinarily, Kaldur would have called for more help. There were a few members of the Justice League who weren't busy, and Batman could probably survive being disturbed. Besides, it was his own city, he could hunt through it faster and more efficiently than the others. Nightwing and Batgirl, no strangers to Gotham, would know where Robin was likely to go.

But something bade him keep silent. Perhaps it was just knowing that Nightwing had wanted the team to do this on their own. But more likely it was something deeper. He hadn't told the team, but he was deeply concerned by Nightwing's disappearance. It had been many years since Nightwing had disappeared without announcing it. Though it had once been his habit, Nightwing had long ago learned the value of his team and letting them know where he was.

It was no longer like him to just go off and not returning at all had never been his style.

* * *

_06:30 PM_

_The Batcave_

The beast awoke angry. And hungry. The sharp click of the front door being unlocked had woken it before it was rested. The heartbeat was strong, but showed wear from age. The butler had returned. His scent rippled through the air ahead of him, advertising his presence in the manor like a glowing neon sign. The creature rose to its feet and snorted.

Growling low to itself, the beast began to climb the stairs. Slowly, quietly, head cocked to listen for any unexpected noise. The Bat had been there earlier, but left before sunset and hadn't once come down to the cave.

Upright, but leaning forward, the creature eased up the stairs one at a time. There was no reason for patience or stealth. Not really. But though its humanity had abandoned it, its extensive training, long habit and instincts kept it from taking any chances.

A cautious hero lives to tell the tale and never dies a martyr. Not that it considered itself a hero any longer. It had practically forgotten the word already, and even thinking it seemed to burn the creature's mind like it had touched a hot frying pan.

Nudging the door open, the creature slipped into the main house, sharp eyes alert for any sudden movement in the dark, with night vision allowing it to see as clear as day. Even had this not been the case, the creature had not forgotten its past life completely. It had a veritable plethora of senses to choose from in addition to sight. Smell, hearing, touch, taste. It could smell the man, could hear his heart beating, could even feel him walking as the movements were transferred dimly through the floor via vibration. It could almost taste blood in the air.

Crouching low, the creature let out a soft hiss. Hearing it, the man froze in the living room. The scent of uncertainty filled the air, as the man wondered if he had indeed heard anything the sound had been so quiet. But this was exactly the sort of hesitation the creature had anticipated. Lunging, it smashed directly through the kitchen door, barreling headlong into the living room. Ten feet away, it leaped, bringing its razor sharp claws into play. Its aim was perfect, the first blow would kill.

But it never made the last three feet. The painful sound of glass breaking to pieces and scattering through the air was its only warning before dead weight slammed down on the back of the creature's skull. Had it been standing, it might have kept its balance. But all four limbs were off the ground and stretched forward, there was nothing to break its fall.

Somehow, unnoticed, the other had arrived. The beast twisted and snarled beneath the other, but found that it had fallen perfectly on a rug. It could get no purchase on the shifting, ripping material. It let out a roar of frustrated fury and blood craving.

"Run!," The word, spoken in a language the creature still recognized dimly, was spoken with a degree of ferocity that a human was simply incapable of.

That was why it had failed to recognize the other's presence. The creature had been expecting a human. But what now pinned it to the floor was what the creature had been earlier. A beast, with only the thinnest veneer of humanity remaining. The man did not fail to hear the savage note to the single word, and made great haste towards the door, speaking not one word of argument.

_No!_. The beast writhed in vain beneath its adversary. It knew that all was lost if the man survived. The man would contact The Bat, who would in his turn inform the Justice League. The creature wasn't ready for that.

A shrieking, otherworldly roar split the air, carrying for miles through the dark and striking terror into all who heard it, because all recognized the unknown within its trembling vibration. The creature was the very embodiment of fear, and yet for all that, it was something utterly unfamiliar to anything which belonged to this world.

Having put all its strength into the cry, the beast had not expected the other to relax his grip, even for a moment. To do so was suicidal, and the other was far too clever to make such a fatal mistake. And yet, for all that, the beast felt its claws manage to dig into the hardwood floor. It heaved upward, throwing its enemy off like a bull rider, then charging like a crocodile from the river, its body barely skimming above the floor and its mouth wide to catch whatever body part was most readily available.

But the other had not completely forgotten himself. He swiftly rolled across the room, smashing the one lamp that was turned on and plunging the room into utter darkness. The sun had set, the moon had yet to rise, and the one window in the living room was so heavily curtained that not a bit of light would have penetrated even had it been high noon.

"You cannot run from me!," the beast did not use human words, but spat a series of shrieking-growls, though it could have spoken just so if it had felt like it.

The other understood it, but did not reply. The air was suddenly full of smoke, masking scent, while the hissing grenades covered sound. As they rolled across the floor, they also hid vibrations. The other knew of the five senses, he had spent years mastering them all.

The creature knew better than to stay where it was. Though it had excellent night vision, absolute darkness was beyond even its visual range. It slithered up onto the couch, then oozed down the other side, its lithe body gliding through the dark like that of a serpent. It had all but forgotten the old man it had originally meant to kill. The other was infinitely more dangerous.

As it finished repositioning, the beast was struck by a flash of insight. The old man had no doubt contacted The Bat, who would likely arrive in mere minutes. It did not feel fear, not truly, but some perversion of it arose within the beast. The other it could destroy, The Bat it could dispatch. But both together was another matter entirely.

It was not ready for that much of a challenge.

"Chase me if you dare!," it called out to the darkness.

Then it leaped for the window. The last of the window broke apart on impact and the creature shot like a bullet through the night, never once looking back. There was no need. The other was following. And now had the power to keep pace with the beast. There would be no losing it this time, and it was just as well. This game of cat and mouse had lost its charm this morning. Now it had become something else.

A bloody fight to the finish.

* * *

_07:00 PM_

_Gotham_

The Batplane swept in a wide arc around Gotham. True to expectation, Alfred had called Batman, tearing him away from a social function. For this, he couldn't say he was sorry. When he had let Nightwing handle this himself, he hadn't counted on things getting so out of hand. The situation was totally out of control. Little did he know just _how_ out of control.

He had contacted the team via radio, and let them in on what had happened. He didn't mention where, or how he knew. Just that there had been an attack on his home. He also had additional intel.

"This is what you're looking for,"

The image flashed to the team was taken in a dark room with night vision. The picture was grainy, but even so, it was possible to make out a number of chairs, a table, and a human figure crouching near one wall. Near the center of the room, body lowered, was a horrible looking creature.

The head was almost wolfish, including a pair of pinned back ears. The head was set on a serpentine neck and dinosaur-like body. Powerful forelimbs ended in wicked looking claws. The creature also had a tail, which was also dinosaurian. Rising in a ridge from its muzzle, over its head, along its neck, down its back and on the top half of its tail was either fur or some kind of spine. The underside of the creature was scaly, including a heavy knotted mass of scaled skin along its sides. Its open mouth exposed razor sharp fangs, which glistened in the night vision camera. Its eyes were aglow in a way that was somehow different from how eyes usually did in night vision There was something wrong about it.

But Kaldur's attention was drawn to the other, the human figure near the wall. He recognized the shape and stance of Nightwing immediately. But there was something wrong about him. Then Kaldur hit on it. His eyes were glowing in the same unnatural way as the creature's.

"Nightwing's changing too," Batman confirmed over the radio, his voice heavy "we have a few hours at most. And then-,"

"And then there will be two of them," Kaldur finished for him.


	5. Chapter 4 - Feral Scream

_09:15 PM_

"How does a seven foot wolf-lizard just disappear?," Superboy asked nobody in particular, thoroughly exasperated.

They had been searching Gotham for hours, with no sign at all. Monitoring news channels hadn't turned anything up either. They knew their quarry could be anywhere by now. They'd seen Robin move before he was completely transformed, and doubtless his speed had increased since then.

"He does it by being careful," came Batman's reply on the radio "he hasn't forgotten how to hide,"

"I think we may have something," Martian Manhunter, in the Watchtower, informed them "a small town several miles outside of Gotham. Several residents reported seeing a werewolf,"

"It's the only lead we've got," Batman said "give me the coordinates. I'll meet up with the rest of the team and we'll go from there,"

* * *

The town wasn't a total loss. Though the creature had, for the most part, covered its tracks well, a badly torn apart warehouse told of a skirmish between the beast and Nightwing. Blood marked the broken walls, and there was even a tuft of fur impaled in concrete by a batarang.

"That's odd," Batman said, looking at the blood "we haven't been able to pierce the skin of any of the creatures we've captured. It's one of the things that makes finding a cure so difficult,"

"Maybe it's Nightwing's blood?," Miss Martian suggested.

"Not all of it," Kid Flash observed "or he'd be here yet,"

"Kid Flash is right," Batman said "Nightwing's still using his weapons, which means he's still human, more or less. Losing this much blood would have killed him,"

"So he poked a hole in the creature, who cares?," Superboy asked impatiently.

"Even Superman with his lasers couldn't cut through the tough hide of these creatures, they broke all manner of knives. Which means either Nightwing did the damage himself and is much stronger than we anticipated, or this one isn't like the others,"

"We already knew that," Superboy said.

"But we did not know of its weakness," Batman told him coldly.

"But Robin was infected more recently than any of the creatures in the Watchtower," Kid Flash protested "he helped catch some of them even. Why would there be a weakness in the new formula that wasn't present in the old one?. They had to have designed it specifically to create that kind of toughness and wouldn't begin to do anything that might tamper with that,"

"So why does Robin have the weakness?. Or does he?," Kaldur asked.

For this, no one had an answer.

* * *

_11:55 PM_

It was Superboy who heard it. They had continued circling the town in ever wider circles, now and then regrouping if they found a track or some sign of violence. They seemed to be heading into the heart of nowhere, miles from anything.

Over the whistling wind and pounding of the rain and the rolling thunder, there came a series of noises. Standing in the middle of a circle of trees, Superboy looked around sharply, rain dripping into his eyes, though he ignored it.

The forest had come alive with sounds. Scratching and scraping, howling and shrieking. As he continued to stare into the underbrush, Superboy was suddenly aware of noises overhead. Looking up through the sheeting rain, he saw birds and squirrels fleeing through the branches. Day creatures awake and active at night, all running in the same direction.

And then there came the wolves. Superboy heard them first, a baying sound cutting through the night, an advance warning to all who heard it that death was hot on the heels of this pack. Then the bushes shook, revealing the first wolf, a slender black female.

Seeing Superboy, she at first pulled up short and made as if to turn back, but then her fear of what lay behind her overrode her terror of what was before her. Leaping on ahead, she cleared the way for a second wolf, then a third, a fourth. At the back of the pack was a rangy gray wolf, larger than the rest.

He took no notice of Superboy, but halted in the small clearing and looked over his shoulder. His breath clouded in the air, and he growled low in his throat. But it was a fearful sound, and his ears and tail were tucked to his body. He turned suddenly and sprang after his pack.

The wolves were followed by other animals, larger ones. A lumbering bull moose swept by Superboy as if he wasn't even there, lowered head nearly smacking into him as it passed. Springing deer leaped high over the bushes, their widened eyes showing the whites as they tried to simultaneously looking in front and behind them. Looking down, Superboy saw a flurry of activity as mice, lizards and insects all came marching through the leaves, following the wolves in their flight.

Superboy swallowed, wondering what could have frightened every animal so. And then he heard it. The sound was so loud, so unnatural, so utterly terrifying that he thought for a moment it had stopped his heart. The vibrating noise shook the trees, and their leaves fell around him like some sort of curtain.

The sound was a shrieking-roar, a deep guttural sound belonging to neither man nor beast, not even a combination of the two. It belonged to something... other.

It was so loud that it was painful, and Superboy covered his ears, wincing as the single note threat went on for a full minute. Leaves fell on him, lightning flashed, the roar sounded. All was chaos, and he could think of nothing to do but wait for the noise to stop.

The roar had stopped his thinking, it was as if he was paralyzed with fear, though he knew that wasn't the case. He just couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't even breathe. Around him, the fleeing animals staggered, stumbling to their knees, some falling down entirely. The sound vibrated the air to such a degree that it affected balance. Even the trees seemed to be strained between the desire to lean away from the sound, and the physical force of the wind which blew them in the opposite direction.

As suddenly as it had sounded, the roar was silenced. But the forest was far from quiet.

Though the animals had all gone by, the cries of the wolves resounded still, a warning to all that they should flee if they valued their lives, for a creature had come to the forest. A hellish beast, far more dangerous, far more deadly, than any predator in the world.

Dizzy and suddenly exhausted, Superboy fell to one knee, gasping for breath.

"Did you hear that?!," Kid Flash's voice was on the radio, on the edge of panic.

"What was it?," Miss Martian asked, as if anyone would know.

"Don't panic," Batman's voice was stern, clearly he had not missed the fear in their voices.

"I don't know," Superboy said between breaths, in answer to Miss Martian's question "but whatever it is, every animal in the woods is racing to get away from it,"

"It's Nightwing," Batman stated flatly "it has to be,"

* * *

_October 6__th__, 12:01 AM_

No sooner had this information sunk in than a rustling sound began in front of Superboy. He felt the urge to flee, something he couldn't ever remember feeling before. He had never run from a fight, at least not willingly. But some instinct, perhaps the same one which had made the animals run, told him that this was no mere beast, no mere mutant creature sprung up from a lab accident.

A flash of lightning temporarily blinded him, and when he could see again, a pair of gleaming eyes were staring back at him from out of the underbrush. Instinct, the same which bade him run, told him that those eyes were not of this world, or any other. They belonged to nothing on Earth, or on any other planet for that matter. Never before had there been eyes like that and, likely as not, there never would be again either.

When the thunder which had almost immediately followed the lightning subsided, Superboy could hear the creature growling quietly, more to itself than him. Each breath was accompanied by a guttural snarl, a self perpetuating anger, as if the very fact that it was alive annoyed it to no end.

"Guys," Superboy spoke slowly into the radio, never taking his eyes off the glowing orbs before him "I think I may have found Robin. Or possibly Nightwing,"

There was a flurry of responses, and the beast raised its head sharply, rustling the bushes. Superboy still couldn't make out its form in the shadows, but the impression he got was that it was big, and semi-upright, standing on two limbs but leaning forward to compensate for its top-heaviness.

"So now what?," Superboy asked, a sudden burst of anger temporarily obliterating his fear.

The animal's head snapped up higher, and the eyes seemed to advance without the physical distance between them closing at all.

"Now you kill me?. And what would that accomplish?. Would it make you human again?," there was a growl of response, but no words "I know you can still understand me," it was something of a lie, because he knew nothing of the sort.

He had no idea what the creature still knew about being human, if anything. But that it hadn't torn him to pieces yet gave him a small, irrational hope that maybe it somehow recognized him on some level. He realized that this was probably a bad thing, as Robin had attempted to kill him earlier.

The growl rose an octave, and the creature advanced slowly, the forest shaking behind it. It moved slowly, but with a self assured air that said it had no fear of Superboy at all, that its caution was mere habit. Superboy noticed that it didn't disturb a single leaf on the forest floor, and realized it could move utterly silently. It was making noise for his benefit.

The wide-set eyes were slightly to the sides of its head, but aimed forward, more bird-like than wolfish, in spite of the broad skull and canine snout. As it slowly slipped into view, entering the clearing which was lit only by the moon which struggled to make itself seen through the clouds, Superboy realized that there was something amiss in it.

It took him a moment to realize that the heavy rolls of scaled skin were absent from its sides, that instead there were sleek black feathers. He noticed other differences. The fur on the creature's head extended to its lower jaw and throat, and was more hair-like than spiked. The arms were shorter, and so were the fingers. In addition to the claws the other creature had on its feet, this one had a lump on the inside of each ankle, which revealed itself to be a pocket of skin protecting a massive sickle-shaped claw, whose tip just barely peered beyond it. This creature was also bigger. Maybe ten feet long.

Superboy saw all this, without realizing the significance of it, though he thought he did.

"You're not Robin," he said aloud.

The creature's head snapped to the left, and it eyed him out of its golden right eye. Within that mysterious eye lurked all the colors, all the shades, of the universe. It was a shifting mist of color, whose form and function was perhaps as alien to Superboy as he himself was to Earth.

A forked tongue lashed out from between crocodile teeth, the lipless mouth parted in an eternal grin.

A supernatural scream from above made Superboy look away from the creature on the ground. He didn't think about it, and a moment later wished he hadn't. Subconsciously, he had started to feel less threatened by the creature as it failed to attack him. The unknown sound from above had him on his guard instantly, but made him forget the animal before him.

It hit him with the force of a two ton truck falling from a great height, flattening him and plowing him into the ground for about ten feet. Searing pain lanced through him as the sickle claws were unsheathed and buried in his flesh. The right claw entered his left shoulder just below the collar bone, the left sliced right into his gut as if he was made of butter.

Superboy was unaccustomed to pain. He was almost impervious. The feeling of the claws raking through him ripped a scream from his throat. The claws dug deeper and the wolfish head rolled towards him on a flexible neck. The jaws parted, revealing a mouth full not only of teeth and drool, but also coated in blood, with strips of skin and muscle, and even chunks of bone stuck between its fangs.

Superboy realized he'd made a mistake. The scent of death on the creature's breath told of things which had died hours before, and begun to rot in the warm mouth. Nightwing could not have accomplished this in just five minutes. And yet it was plain that the forest creatures were running back the way Superboy had come, the way Robin surely must have. That indicated that Nightwing had become a beast, one more frightening even than Robin.

But all of this meant that it was Robin who now pinned him, and was about to bite his head off like he was an animal cracker or gingerbread man. But he was sure he remembered the scales on the under jaw of the creature in the photo, and was absolutely certain that it had possessed no feathers.

The shrieking sound came again, vaguely reminiscent of the roar of dragons from movies, yet far more terrible than that, malice in every note of the feral cry.

The creature on Superboy swung its head towards the sky, its eyes narrowing and a low hiss escaping from it. It clenched and unclenched its 'hands', and Superboy was painfully aware of the talon-nature of its hind feet as it gripped tightly to him.

Then came the roar. Closer than before, louder than before, angrier than before. Superboy was deafened by it. He thought to defend himself, but the creature's hold was stronger than he was. He lay there pinned, and furious at being so.

He had taken on beasts of greater size, greater bulk. There was very little which could pierce his skin. Then a sick feeling began to come to him, a sensation he recognized with horror. It was like Kryptonite was being injected into his wounds. The creature's claws?. But how?.

The pain paralyzed him, and he realized he was utterly helpless.

High above, there circled another creature, this one nothing like the first, despite the wolf-lizard parallel. Its forelimbs were as long as its hind, with talons on each, including a thumb on the front. It had the overall form of a movie dragon, save for the same savagely wolfen head, this one on a shorter neck, thicker. It was a creature whose form favored power over speed.

It had been this one who roared. The first creature stepped off of Superboy, but he still couldn't move. The poison in his system made that impossible. He only now noticed the telltale scores down the beast's side, wounds pouring blood, probably from that early encounter in the warehouse.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, he thought.

He received another shock, which he should have seen coming. The beast on the ground spread great black wings, its feathers shimmering as if they themselves had tiny lights on them. Within the creature's very feathers was that same all colors, all shades impossibility that was in its golden eyes.

It roared an answer to the circling beast and, as it did so, the feathers began to fall from its wings, revealing a tough leathery skin, like that from before.

Superboy swallowed hard as he realized what he should have, what they all should have, from the very start. The thing that made these creatures perfect killers, that made them of interest to the Light. The reason Nightwing had been able to draw blood when they had not. The reason the creature had been able to poison Superboy, as though it were designed for just that.

These creatures were shape-shifters.


	6. Chapter 5 - Fangs

Kid Flash was first on the scene. He skidded to a stunned halt as he caught sight of the wolf-dragon taking off. He ran over to Superboy, who lay on his back, choking as if he couldn't breathe.

"Holy cow, you're bleeding!," Kid Flash stated the obvious, too surprised to do otherwise.

Superboy ignored him, staring upward as if his life depended on it. Only a few seconds had passed since he had called to tell the team he'd found one of the creatures, but it seemed like an eternity. Kid Flash followed his gaze in time to see the dragons crashing together. Four wings folded around the great beasts, concealing them as gravity took hold and they plummeted towards earth.

He ducked on instinct as the creatures parted, mere inches from the ground and one swept just over him. The talons of the one who flew over him snatched at his head, as if trying to take it off. The creatures swept back faster than seemed physically possible, even to Kid Flash. They slammed together with an audible crash. Shrieking, snarling and growling, they tore at one another with razor claws and snapped with jaws powerful enough to crush the skull of a bear.

The Batplane appeared, barely dodging as the tangled beasts twisted through the air in mortal combat. The bio-ship was not so lucky. As the creatures parted to reassess the battle, the larger of the two smacked right into the ship with its tail, knocking it from the air like a fly-swatter would a fly.

The beast didn't even appear to notice, seeming to swim through the air towards the other, mouth agape. The smaller creature hooked its claws into the other's snout and shoved it lower in the air, then flew over its adversary, blood adorning its claws.

The large creature shook its head, neatly clipping the tops from several trees as it changed direction to defend itself from the following onslaught.

The Batplane landed in the clearing, the bio-ship had crashed.

"Miss Martian, are you alright?. Kaldur?," Miss Martian and Kaldur had been inside the bio-ship.

"A little bruised, but mostly just stunned," Miss Martian replied "Kaldur?,"

"I am fine," came the somewhat shaky response.

"Superboy isn't," Kid Flash said "he's not moving. I can't even tell if he's breathing,"

Miss Martian appeared almost at once, kneeling beside him. There was, of course, very little she could do. She glared up at the airborne behemoths, trying to pull them from the sky, touch their minds, anything. But it was as if they weren't real.

"I can't read their thoughts," she gasped after a minute's trying brought no hint of result "I can't even touch them at all,"

If Superboy could have spoken, he could have offered a theory as to why that was. If Robin and Nightwing had the power to become anything they wanted, was it not unreasonable for them to be resistant to the power of a Martian, even one so powerful as she?.

But he couldn't speak, and the paralysis was spreading to his internal organs. He was barely able to breathe, and his heart was beginning to slow. He was dying, and couldn't even say so.

Batman had remained in the Batplane, thinking hard, his mind racing over the possibilities and probabilities and options left to him. The beasts were fighting. Perhaps they merely wanted to kill anything and everything, but something told him otherwise.

Had he known what Superboy now did, he probably wouldn't have gone on the attack. But as it was, it seemed the only thing to do. If he took a pot shot at them, he was betting that one would attack him, and the other would duck away.

Clearly, one had attacked Superboy, which indicated the other might be protecting him. It was a long shot, but it seemed that he had to take it.

He was fortunate. The creatures did not anticipate his attack. One of them had defeated Superboy easily, and all firepower used against the others of their kind had been something of a joke. The very idea of a ship attacking them was laughable.

The Batplane took off, dove in and shot near, but missed both targets. As Batman had anticipated, the animals parted and one swept upwards towards him, while the other hung in the air as though undecided for a moment, before descending towards the ground.

The team below had not considered that one of the beasts might be on their side. Kaldur and Miss Martian threw everything they had at the descending beast. A tree flew past its head as the animal landed, and Kaldur struck it in the side with a powerful swing.

The great beast's mouth parted in what they expected to be a roar like the one before. It roared, but this was quieter, and was followed by something much more terrifying to the Martian and Atlantean. A tongue of flame sprang from the beast's parted jaws, leaping out at them, driving them back with its intense heat. The licking flames danced in the black eyes of the beast and it roared again.

It advanced on them, driving them back. Kid Flash attempted to run up its back for an attack, but it hit him hard with its tail, not even sparing him a glance. He flew across the clearing and bounced off a tree, lying stunned on the grass, staring blankly up at the sky, where Batman and the other beast were engaged in aerial combat. Batman was losing, the long claws of the beast had raked across the plane and it was beginning to smoke.

Abruptly, the fiery beast snapped its jaws shut and whirled towards the fallen Superboy, smoke curling up from its nostrils as it snorted irritably.

When Kaldur and Miss Martian again advanced, the powerful tail swept across them, knocking them aside like they were bowling pins.

Black eyes, unending in their darkened depths, met the half-Kryptonian's wounded gaze. For a long moment, there was silence and stillness as the two stared at one another, a strange, almost frightened recognition passing between them like the lightning overhead.

Kaldur and Miss Martian again got their feet, and so did Kid Flash. The creature snapped its head to look at them, hostility burning plain in its unnaturally glinting eyes.

"There is no percentage in continuing this battle," Kaldur said sensibly.

Perhaps he knew the futility of standing against the beast, or maybe he knew it would not harm them unless they provoked it. Either way, he stood down, and the others reluctantly followed suit.

The beast stared at them distrustfully for a few seconds. Then suddenly its jaws were closed around Superboy's left shoulder. Its teeth sank in, and Miss Martian cried out and would have run forward had Kaldur not put out an arm to stop her.

The bite was deep, and blood welled up and coated the beast's fangs. It closed its eyes briefly, then opened its jaws, flapped its wings once and took to the air, catching the other beast in the underbelly and propelling it away from the Batplane, which was beginning to fall from the sky.

Miss Martian fell beside Superboy, who was already beginning to come around. He blinked once, then twice, then slowly and stiffly sat up. His wounds had already started to heal, though not so swiftly as Superman's would have. Their eyes met, and then they both looked up. The Batplane spiraled towards the ground. Above it, the beasts were locked in their deadly combat once more.

"Well now what do we do?," Kid Flash asked, staring upwards.

"What can we do?," Kaldur asked "there is no defense against what they've become,"

"I'm not so sure that's true," Superboy said, his voice hoarse.

"Why not?,"

"They're shape-shifters," he said slowly "And I think they only defend against attacks they anticipate. The creature that clawed me, I think it was Robin, waited several seconds before doing so. As if it had to take in who I was, and then reform its insides to poison me,"

"And the fire breather had not created flame until it faced us," Kaldur said.

"Then why couldn't I touch them?. If they expected me, surely they must have expected Superboy," Miss Martian wanted to know.

"Maybe they can't be everything at once?," Kid Flash suggested, but it didn't ring true somehow.

"In any case, it seems evident that only their own kind poses any threat to them," Batman had suddenly appeared "my shots were only briefly, and slightly, effective. Though it seems that they can't just heal sustained wounds. The smaller one is badly injured and probably won't continue the fight,"

As if on cue, the smaller creature suddenly broke away from the larger, shifting its form as it fled so that it could attain greater speed. The larger roared, seemed to consider following it, then instead lowered itself slowly, carefully to the ground. It alighted near Superboy, its noble-looking head tucked to its expansive chest, folding its wings gently around itself like a cloak.

A moment of silence passed as they all looked over the creature, and it glared skeptically at them, as if they were strangers to it. Slowly it opened its jaws and blew a small fire, like a rattlesnake shaking its tail in warning. It could deep fry them all if it wanted to.

"Doesn't he recognize us?," Miss Martian asked.

"I'm sure he does, on some level," Batman replied "but it's clear he no longer regards us as allies,"

"Then why save my life?," Superboy wondered.

The beast looked from one person to another, with eyes that spoke of impatience and barely suppressed fury. It looked towards the sky, as if it expected the other to come back at any second. It looked as though it wanted that to happen, yet still it stood.

It parted its jaws again, but this time no fire sprang forth. Instead, a set of thin, fragile looking teeth snapped down from the roof of its mouth, like the poison fangs of a snake. The fangs extended forward, reaching beyond the creature's mouth, as though seeking something. At their fullest extent, the fangs dripped a clear fluid, which fell to the ground. Then it folded the teeth back and hissed.

"Do you know where the other is going?," Batman asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

The beast drew its head closer to its chest and snorted, smoke spewing from its nostrils in a small black cloud. No one could guess what this was supposed to mean. The creature extended its muzzle and pointed towards the sky.

"It's like he wants us to do something. Follow him?," Miss Martian wondered.

She tried to touch the beast's mind, but it recoiled physically, snarling and blowing fire at her. It roared quietly, then tucked its head again.

Without warning, it spread its blackened leathery wings and emitted a high pitched shriek like that of a bat, only louder and more ferocious. It took to the air, flapping heavily, disappearing into the night. As it went, it shrieked out its frustration, or perhaps called to the other, nobody was sure.

"Should we follow him?," Miss Martian asked.

"To what end?," Kaldur wanted to know "there is nothing we can do against these creatures,"

"That's not necessarily true," Batman replied "it may be possible to attack them with something they do not expect. If we can inflict enough damage, we can render them helpless,"

"And then what?," Kaldur asked, dreading the answer.

"And then we kill them," Batman said "we have no other choice. They are simply too dangerous and unpredictable to be allowed to go free,"

"Even Nightwing?," Superboy asked "he saved my life,"

"Even Nightwing, because he cannot be counted on not to kill you should he see you again,"


	7. Chapter 6 - Cure

Miss Martian and Kid Flash were chosen to follow the creatures. Miss Martian because she could fly, Kid Flash because he was swift enough to keep up. The others would have to make their way home, which would take time as they no longer had a mode of transport. It would take time for the bio-ship to repair, and tools to fix the Batplane.

Sooner than expected, Miss Martian and Kid Flash nearly went right by the beast who had once been Nightwing. He had perched on a high rocky outcrop, looking over the forest with a severe eye, head jerking left and right as though he expected to see something. He was looking for Robin, he had to be.

He seemed oblivious of their presence, though he had to know that they were there. He had somehow sensed Kid Flash running up behind him before, he probably could now. But he treated them with indifference, as if so unconcerned by their presence that they didn't even exist in his mind.

Suddenly, a whistle of triumph split the air and he took off, flying hard, making a beeline for Gotham.

"Seriously?," Kid Flash moaned "I feel like we've been going in circles all day!,"

The dragon turned in his flight path, sweeping a wide arc over Miss Martian and Kid Flash. He roared in a beckoning manner, then turned back to his path and swam through the air too swiftly for either of them to keep up.

"He wants us to follow him,"

"Ya think?,"

* * *

_3:45 AM_

_Gotham_

The first creature was waiting for them, perching on Wayne Tower. He greeted the other with an ear-splitting roar which knocked Miss Martian from the sky. The other creature simply kept coming, riding the waves of sound without apparent effort.

The first spread his wings, and reared his head which was once more attached to a serpent's neck. He hissed a curse and flew at his enemy. Their bodies connected in the air and they both began to fall. Tumbling out of control, heedless of the buildings which they careened into. Chunks of brick and mortar were broken loose, glass shattered, and still they fell, end over end, story after story.

The larger creature, Nightwing, hit the ground, the smaller on top of him, raking its sickle claws down his sides and jabbing and snapping its jaws like a beak as the other held it firmly at bay.

The other lay looking up at the snarling, slavering beast atop him, sudden horror in his demonic eyes. Opening his mouth, he breathed flame into the face of his opponent, who yelped and staggered backwards. Miss Martian, looking closely at the smaller creature, realized that it had very nearly healed from the previous encounter. It could be wounded, but not for long.

If killed, would it simply return to life?.

The large beast seemed to struggle to its feet, shaking its head as though there were flies buzzing around it. It roared in a mindless rage. Miss Martian wondered what it had seen to shake it so.

The first had recovered itself, and lashed out with long front claws. The other backed away, rumbling veiled threats which suddenly seemed empty. It looked up to Miss Martian, as though it expected her to do something, but she couldn't for the life of her think what.

The first advanced on the other, striking out madly with its claws. The other gave ground more and more, snarling but without any force to it. Something had changed, and the other was now losing.

Suddenly Kid Flash had entered the fray, racing around the first creature at top speed, attempting to create enough of a vortex to lift it from the ground. The creature's rear claws dug into the pavement, and it flapped its great wings, beating against the air. With a strike of its thick tail, it brought Kid Flash down. He went flying, and struck against the foreleg of the other beast.

The beast knocked him away roughly and he bounced off the wall. The first beast roared and spread its forelimbs, inviting attack. The other roared back, a crest of hair or spines rising around its head. It puffed a cloud of flame at the first, who hopped back and hissed angrily.

They had the same ferocity as before, but it seemed like they were running out of energy. Their movements had slowed, and they did more defending than attacking. They could apparently heal quickly, but their energy was limited, perhaps like Kid Flash?.

Again the dragon looked to Miss Martian as though she should do something. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she lifted the nearest heavy thing she could (a parked car) and threw it at the first creature. The metal object bounced ineffectively off the creature's head. It whirled on her, and opened its mouth with the clear intent of spouting flames.

Miss Martian closed her eyes, preparing for the searing heat. But it never came. When she dared look, she saw that the creature was mere inches from her, but its face had twisted into a mask of horrible pain. Looking past it, she saw that the dragon had wrapped its forelimbs around the first creature's body, digging in with razor claws. Sharp teeth sunk deep into the first creature's neck.

The creature reared back, staggered, and clawed at the other, but couldn't get it off. It stumbled backward, its once powerful roar now a desperate wail as it struggled to remain on its feet. The other just bit deeper, eyes closed, every muscle taut with the effort of holding the first.

Then suddenly it let go, lunging backward. The first creature staggered twice, then seemed to collapse in on itself, sinking bonelessly to the ground. It still wailed as though it were dying, and blood oozed from the wound at its neck.

It was about this time that Batman and the team arrived, having used a nearby boom tube. What they saw brought them up short, clearly baffling them.

The first creature was writhing on the ground, smoke seeming to rise from its agonized body as it twisted in pain and cried out as though seeking relief. The other stood a good ten feet away, mouth open and contorted into a savage snarl, tense and ready to spring again if need be. Its eyes were the only movement, rapidly flitting from one part of the first to another, sometimes looking at Miss Martian or casting a sideways glance at Kid Flash, who still hadn't gotten up.

With a last, desperate squeal, the first creature vanished in a cloud of smoke. The smoke was so thick and spread so far that Miss Martian was blinded. She coughed and blinked, afraid of being attacked even though instinct told her that it was somehow over. Almost as if by magic, it was over.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained was the dragon and Robin. Human Robin, curled into a tight ball, shivering from cold, wearing nothing and with no marks on him save for the wound on his neck, as if the transformation had healed whatever other wounds he had sustained.

"Crash," Kid Flash, who had apparently seen the whole thing but was just now getting up, commented, then repeated it for lack of anything else to say "crash,"


	8. Chapter 7 - Dragon's Bite

The stunned silence went on for over a minute, with nobody moving or speaking. The first to move was the other, now the only remaining creature. As he had in the forest, he approached the team, then tucked his head to his chest for a long moment. Extending his muzzle, he parted his jaws, folding out the snake-like fangs slowly. This time, they understood, all at the same time.

"He can cure the others!," Superboy exclaimed suddenly.

At the same time, Miss Martian and Kid Flash made the same announcement. Kaldur and Batman were more reserved outwardly, but inside they were just as excited by the prospect of the long-needed cure for the monsters held at the Watchtower.

"Do you think it could be true?," Kaldur asked quietly aside to Batman "could it really be so simple?,"

Batman didn't answer, his eyes locked on the dragon's, lost somewhere in his own private thoughts. The dragon gazed back steadily, something no animal would do unless they were issuing a challenge. But there was no longer malice in the alien eyes, but a sort of disappointment. As if he had expected much more from them somehow.

Without a word, Batman removed his cape and threw it over Robin, who showed no sign of awareness. Robin, curled into the fetal position, was shaking for all he was worth, but did not seem conscious. The possibility of a cure could not be ignored. But first it would have to be proven that Robin really was okay, that this wasn't just some type of poisoning that would eventually kill him, or that he wouldn't just revert back after a few hours.

Batman lifted the boy in his arms gently, with more care than any of the team would have believed possible for the Dark Knight. He didn't glance at any of them, turning instead to the dragon, gazing deep into its eyes for a long, contemplative moment. The dragon bent its head low and blinked a long, slow, almost natural blink. As if this somehow satisfied him, Batman led the way to the boom tube.

* * *

_October 7__th__, 09:34 AM_

_Watchtower_

Atom and Batman entered the room where the dragon was being kept. Nobody, not even The Bat himself, could think of the dragon as Nightwing. As Batman had known from the start, the dragon was unpredictable. One minute it was calm and cooperative, the next it was trying to tear its way out of the Watchtower, and willing to kill to do it.

For this reason, they had yet to acquire a sample of the "venom" from the dragon's fangs. Its mood swings had been too abrupt, its behavior too volatile. It was untrustworthy, and violent. If it had not held the possible key to the whole monster problem in its fangs, Batman would have done away with it (assuming that was even possible).

It had even tried to kill Superboy and Miss Martian, one of whom it had previously taken a risk to save, the other it had asked for help from. It had also taken a swipe at Batman as though it didn't even recognize him. Each passing hour increased the likelihood that it would escape, that it would hurt or kill someone.

Physically, Robin seemed fine, but he had yet to awaken, which was a cause for growing concern. If the cure was imperfect, they would merely be trading one hell for another.

The great beast, curled up like a cat, with its massive wings draped over its body like a blanket, stopped mid-snore to open an almond-shaped eye. It rolled the eye towards Batman and Atom. A low growl rumbled through it and smoke puffed out of its barely open mouth.

"You offered us this cure," Atom said in frustration "why won't you give it to us now?,"

The dragon hissed, rolled its eye and seemed intent on going back to sleep.

"Do not approach," Batman said when Atom took a step towards the beast "he can undoubtedly withhold the cure, even if we tried to force it from him,"

"But why?," Atom demanded "what does he want?,"

Batman frowned at Atom, then the dragon. For this question he had no answer, only a theory, and one he was not prepared to voice. He suspected the beast itself was uncertain of the cure, and unwilling to risk others until it was proven to work on Robin.

Even if it did, would it do any good?. Or make any difference?. After all, Robin's injection had been different from the others. Just because a cure worked on him, there was no guarantee it would work on anyone else. And then sudden thought struck Batman like a bolt of lightning.

"Gather some of the League, I want to try something,"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, several Leaguers were standing by in case Batman's plan went awry. Batman and Superman entered the dragon's den, dragging with them a cage containing a primate-like monster, who was clinging to the bars of its cage and screaming bloody murder.

The dragon opened an eye, which narrowed in irritation at the sound which disturbed its slumber. It rose heavily, making a big show of how huge it was. Rising to its full height, it stood and waited for Batman and Superman to retreat, closing the door behind them. Using a remote control, they opened the primate's cage.

It blinked, stupid and stunned by the sudden freedom. Catching sight of the dragon, it began to charge, squealing its aggression at the top of its lungs. The dragon stood silently, watching it come. When it was within the reach of the dragon's maw, it stopped dead in its tracks. Staring up at the behemoth, it began to scream in a different tone. It realized its peril too late. Like a lightning strike, the dragon's jaws parted and shot forward, closing around the neck of the ape. With apparent relish, it lifted the hapless creature from the ground and shook it, its fangs sinking deep.

"He'll kill it!," Superman shouted, starting forward to intervene.

Batman held out his hand to block him, and shook his head. Even if he was wrong and Superman was right, there was nothing they could do to prevent the dragon from doing what it was doing now.

Slowly, the dragon lowered its head. Gingerly, almost tenderly, it laid the now limp primate on the floor and backed away to a respectable distance.

The ape began to scream and cry again, this time in pure agony. Its body twisted and contorted painfully, and then it began to change. Barely noticeably at first, then more rapidly. Inside of a minute, a middle-aged man lay on the floor where the creature had been before.

The dragon blew a small fire and shifted impatiently.

"Why will he do that, but not give us the cure?," Atom asked.

Batman didn't answer, instead taking up the canister they had been trying to collect venom in for over a day. The dragon watched him enter the room, its eyes on the container. Silently, Batman set it down, then backed away. The dragon stared at it, as if thinking about simply breathing fire on it, destroying it, making it go away. Instead, its head shot out and it took the canister in its jaws. Its upper fangs pierced the top as it shook the container savagely, growling ferociously. Then it deposited the canister back on the floor with the same tenderness as the man a moment before.

"Thank you," Batman said, before taking the container in hand and slinging the unconscious man over his shoulder and walking back out, closing the door behind him.

"Why now?," Atom asked.

"I believe he had to adjust his venom," Batman replied "the serum used on the others was different from him and Robin and so his cure for Robin probably wouldn't work on them,"

"But why did he need to see one?," Atom wanted to know.

"To identify it. Maybe a scent. Maybe the bite itself, the taste of his blood," Batman theorized "in any case, you can now replicate it, assuming it works on this man,"


	9. Chapter 8 - Memory

_October 8__th__, 6:45 AM_

_Watchtower_

Robin woke feeling weak and disoriented. At first, he thought the images in his head were from a nightmare, but then he realized that they were real. He recalled only small fragments of what had happened, but enough to scare him.

He sat up too quickly, and then fell back against the pillow of his bed, eyes rolling. Better not try that again, at least not yet, he thought.

He realized he was wearing his mask. In the bed across the room was an unconscious man he didn't recognize. But he didn't have to. The pain in his neck told him that his final memory was real. He'd been bitten by a dragon... no... it had been Nightwing. A cure.

Robin next realized his connection with Nightwing had been severed. He remembered clearly the feeling of Nightwing being in his head, and vice versa, knowing and not knowing what each was thinking. He remembered the decision Nightwing made. Giving up his humanity to try and capture Robin, knowing the others would kill him.

Because there was less in his system than Robin's, Nightwing had retained a portion of his old self, enough to keep his head in the game and not go on a rampage. He had not known in advance that he would be able to save Robin or provide a cure, he'd learned that after. At the time, Robin hadn't wanted it. He had been enraptured by what he'd become, thrilled at his own power.

That power was gone now, every last bit of it. He was just human now, and just as glad for it.

A few minutes later, he sat up again, this time with better results. Finding his suit next to his bed, he got dressed and went looking for Nightwing.

* * *

It wasn't long before he found the dragon's lair. Nobody had seen him on the way, no one stopped him from opening the door and entering the room. He closed the door behind him and sat down cross-legged, looking upon the sleeping dragon with a mixture of awe and pity.

A snake cannot be poisoned by its own venom, he knew. The dragon, likewise, would be unable to cure itself with a bite. Dragon he was, and dragon he would stay.

"I'm sorry," Robin said quietly "I wish I could save you, as you have saved me,"

The dragon opened its eyes and looked at him distantly, as though it barely recognized him. It blew through its nose and made a grumbling noise, scraping its front claws on the floor. Robin and the dragon continued to stare at one another for a long, long time, neither moving.

"But don't give up," Robin whispered "perhaps your cure could be modified, so it could work for you. It's not over yet. You didn't give up on me, and I won't give up on you,"

The dragon parted its jaws and blew some fire, apparently just because it could. Robin did not flinch away from the flames, but watched in sad fascination as figures and images danced through the flames, ghostly reminders of times passed and people long gone.

"You do still remember," Robin said.

The jaws closed, scissor bite teeth clicking together sharply.

* * *

_October 11__th__, 07:00 AM_

The people were beginning to wake up, and all the monsters had been treated. There were still the ones running loose to be dealt with, and still the matter of stopping their production. But they were a step closer to being nothing but a bad memory. There was a cure, which could also be used as a weapon to stop monsters in their tracks.

"I don't know if this will work," Atom told the dragon "but it's the best I've been able to come up with," he started towards the dragon with the syringe, but it rose to its feet and snarled threateningly.

"Here," Robin said "let me,"

Taking hold of the foreign object, Robin wondered if he would really have any better luck. Still, he had to try. He approached the dragon quietly, talking softly with no particular topic in mind. The dragon snarled again and recoiled, thumping its tail on the floor warningly and blowing fire through its nose. Its constantly bared teeth gleamed in the light. Robin sidled up to the dragon nervously, sweat forming on his face and hands. The dragon could eat him in one bite, and was unpredictable enough to do just that if he wasn't careful.

"Just hold still," Robin instructed "when I'm finished, then you can bite me, I don't care,"

The dragon hissed, but did not make any more threats. It stood still as Robin reached for its shoulder with the silver needle. Its eyes and Robin's met, their gazes held. Robin was frozen where he stood for a number of seconds. There was reluctance, perhaps fear even, in the dragon's gaze.

Like he had been, it was happy as it was, and hardly recalled being anything else. It was afraid of being vulnerable, of being able to be hurt. It didn't want to be human. It liked its blood lust, it wanted to kill. It didn't want to lose that.

"It's better this way," Robin informed the beast "you'll see,"

And with that, he jabbed the needle into the beast's arm.

With a roar, it reared up and flung him aside. He hit the wall hard, the breath knocked from his body. He lay on the floor where he landed, watching the dragon rear upright fully, a roaring blaze leaping from its open mouth. It clawed the syringe from its body, then swiped at the walls, the syringe, the floor, even itself.

Its deafening cries shook the Watchtower itself.

And then it was quiet. The beast, defeated and exhausted, lay down on the floor, and disappeared in a black cloud of thick smoke.

When it cleared, the dragon was gone, lost forever like the creatures before it. Though it had been an unnatural beast, who would have destroyed everything it touched in time, there was still a sense of mourning as the great monster, a creature right out of myth, breathed its final breath.

And then there was only Nightwing.

The beast was just a memory.


	10. Epilogue

_LuthorCorp HQ, Metropolis_

_October 15__th__, 08:00 AM_

Lex Luthor gazed out at Metropolis, a simmering fury building within him. Bad enough that his experiment had failed so fantastically, but to have lived in fear of the beast who attacked him, only to discover that Robin and Nightwing were even now operating in Gotham was far worse.

The beast was Nightwing. It had to be. And yet, and yet, there had been two spotted in Gotham. The destruction brought about by them and the horrific footage which was played over and over on the news was proof enough of their existence. Could it be that the other was Tim Dragon?. That Tim Dragon was also Robin?. That Luthor had once been in possession of a hero and not even been aware of it?. Could it be possible?. If that were the case, then the second creature had never even showed up where it was supposed to. Somehow it had resisted the programming put in place, had become something other than what Luthor had intended it to be.

Tim Dragon, whoever he might be, was undoubtedly back to normal, living his pathetic existence as if the whole thing had never even happened, forgetting the event almost at once. As if it had never happened. In spite of the amazing nature of the photographed creatures, the news was playing less and less of their epic struggle to destroy one another.

Which was another mystery. Why they had come to blows. Was it because, like the ones before them, that they were utterly mindless and complete savages?. If so, then Luthor's plans for the future could be put on hold indefinitely.

He hated that. Oh how he hated it!.

Those dragons had made a fool of him. He felt like their fight in Gotham had been staged especially for him, so he could see firsthand how miserably he had failed.

And now his other monsters were being returned to normal. There would be no army now, how could there be?. And yet, he knew that he would not give up on his project so easily. No. There had to be a way to salvage it. Somehow, he would find a way to get exactly what he wanted. Even if it took him the rest of his life, he would prove that he was no fool.

* * *

_October 16__th__, 09:12 PM_

_Batcave_

Batman pulled on his mask and gloves, then looked up to see Tim and Dick descending the stairs to join him. They weren't in costume yet, but it wouldn't take long. For a moment though, he didn't quite recognize them. In the shadows of the staircase, their eyes seemed to glow, shimmering almost unnaturally in the dark.

It was the only reminder of what they had once been, and never would be again.

Robin seemed to recall very little of his time as a creature, and it was generally agreed that this was for the best. Nightwing remembered more, but even his memory was somewhat fuzzy. They would never forget, not entirely. And, now and then, memories would surface in the form of nightmares, reminding them of what they had done, what they had become, what they had been willing even wanting to do. And too, they would beckon, reminding Robin and Nightwing of the utter freedom of being what they had once been. Though they had been purged of their monster forms and natures, they would never truly be free, the darkness which had been unleashed would live forever in some dark corner of their minds.

But that was okay, because it was a part of their past, part of who they were. They could live with those demons in the night.

"Ready?," Batman asked.

"Always," Robin replied, pulling his mask over his face.

Nightwing didn't answer, but nodded affirmative. It had been a long time since the three of them had gone out as a team. Too long, Batman thought. Some days it seemed like these boys were strangers to him. Proud as he was of all they had accomplished, he missed when they were his sidekicks. He missed the closeness he felt to them then, when they had needed him.

But he knew it was as it must be. For one day he would be gone, and Gotham would still need a hero. One who could stand against all things, who could take on any foe. Who would plunge fearlessly into battle, but only when the time was right. Who used his head to survive, and ensure the safety of others. One day there would no longer be Batman.

But when that day came, his children would be there, watching, waiting. Ready to answer the call. The call to darkness.

* * *

**A/N: The author thanks you for reading, hopes you enjoyed it and is excited to be posting the prologue of part 4 today. The author hopes you will enjoy reading part 4 at least as much as the author enjoyed writing it. Thank you kindly and have a wonderful day.**


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